Earlier today Sony Computer Entertainment released a statement regarding PlayStation 3 circumvention devices and pirated software. The statement below goes into detail about what will now happen to any user that violates the terms of service and user agreements for both the PlayStation Network and Qriocity, the subscription based music service from Sony.

    Important Access to the PlayStation Network and Access to Qriocity Services Notice

    Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers.

    These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the “System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System” and the “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions.

    Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws.

    Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 System terminated permanently.

    To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.

As of today, anyone that violates the agreement by using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software their PlayStation 3 will lose access to both the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services permanently.

There are no details on how Sony now detects the tampering of PlayStation 3 hardware, firmware or software, but the recently released 3.56 firmware for the console did add some additional security features which enabled the banning of many Call of Duty: Black Ops hackers and cheats.

A harshly worded, but fair post on the official PlayStation blog goes on to state that not only does the piracy of PlayStation 3 software cause harm for developers, but it also affects online games, thanks to hacks and cheats that have started to see the light of day recently: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/02/16/official-statement-regarding-ps3-circumvention-devices-and-pirated-software/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=official_statement_021611
This is especially true in games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, which has seen numerous issues ever since its release late last year.

Sony has decided to take legal action against the hackers that were able to exploit the PlayStation 3 operating system into running 'homebrew' and pirated software, which worked by accessing root keys or "special codes" in the OS that validated any game or application as genuine.

Sony also had to deal with a leak of Killzone 3 onto the Internet this week, nearly 2 weeks before its official release. The highly anticipated Killzone 3 is the third installment in the first-person shooter series, developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The title is set to hit store shelves on February 22 in North America and February 25 in Europe as a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

(NW)